Where is END?
by zElliexmagic
Summary: The demon seed inside of Natsu is fusing with the suppressed dragon seed and killing him. Lucy knows this and is no way simply going to stand there and watch the love of her life die before her eyes, but is the price that she has to pay so terrible that she doubts if it was worth it? Spoiler alert for chapter 516 and up. NaLu
1. Teaser Trailer

_**PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!**_

 **And now that** _ **that**_ **is out of the way, *ahem* this whole this is a spoiler for chapter 516 and beyond.**

 **And** _ **finally**_ **, I must say HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!**

 **Okay, I'll try not to ramble like I did at "idea for a story", but I have to say that this whole thing came from the demon seed and dragon seed that are killing Natsu by fusing together…oh yeah, and Lucy's love for Natsu. :D**

 **The demon seed is technically END if you think about it. If there was no demon seed, Natsu wouldn't be able to use his demon magic and therefore there would be no END. At least, that's what I think. So I got this super cool idea from it.**

 **I really really really wanna write this story down as fast as I can, but since 516 is the latest chapter, I wanna know a little more of what's going to happen in the Alvarez Empire arc before I write it. I originally plan for the arc to finish before I start this, but maybe I'll start a little before that. But I really wanna show you guys this so I figured I'd post it like I did with "idea for a story". Btw, this takes place right after Alvarez Empire so that's why I'm waiting.**

 **So basically this is a teaser trailer XD**

 **And I won't ramble on so I'll stop there.**

 **I don't own Fairy Tail…and enjoy the teaser trailer of "Where is END?"!**

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"AAAHHHHHHHH-mmfph!"

Lucy slapped a hand over her mouth when a scream escaped. Her other hand gripped her heart that was pounding against her ribcage fast and painfully unbearable. She was on her knees in the middle of Magnolia forest, leaning against a tree. Her entire body was sweating from head to toe and she was shaking uncontrollably. Every once in a while, her body would jerk in pain.

"Mmph! M-mmhnnn! Hmmnn!"

Her hand gripped her mouth harder as painful screams threatened to escape and she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to scream. If she did, Natsu would hear her and come running…and he would see her in pain without any physical wounds and then he'd freak out, which would make _her_ freak out…which will make everything worse.

He was the last person she would tell about what was wrong…

Lucy had been extremely hot lately, like Natsu. Her body temperature had escalated to a different normal degree that was probably higher that Natsu's average temperature.

It would surprise her if it was lower…

She gripped a tree branch, panting hard and suddenly throwing up her lunch onto the ground in front of her. It tasted nasty, but it was better than the pain she was going through.

Her body jerked again and she gripped the branch harder…

…and the branch snapped off the tree…from just the strength of her bare hand…

Lucy stared, but wasn't surprised. She knew where his was coming from: unbearable pain, the abnormal temperature, and brute strength…she knew where it was all coming from…

And she didn't regret it…not one bit…

"Gah!" Lucy's body suddenly slammed against the tree, jerking again. She dug her nails into the trunk, successfully leaving marks on it. "Hah…A-ah!"

Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder and she panicked, which didn't help her situation at all.

She slowly turned, praying it wasn't Natsu or anybody from the guild. How was she supposed to explain this?

Luckily, it was the only person in the entire world who knew about Lucy's condition: Porlyusica.

"Take deep breaths, Lucy," she said as the blonde's body continued to jerk in pain and she bit back screams. "Deep breaths…calm down…In through your nose and out of your mouth…"

Lucy did just that. At first, her breaths came in and out ragged and unorganized. It was specifically hard to breathe when the pain was unbarring and she thought she was going to throw up again (and she did), but she was able to breath deeply soon enough. It helped as Porlyusica rubbed her back soothingly which was unlike her, but Lucy wasn't complaining. The pain began to ease down inside of her and the sweating stopped. The shaking began to slowly go away as her breathing and heart rate returned to normal.

The shaking is what alerts Lucy she's about to go through another round of pain. It starts from at the inside, where she could feel her intestines vibrating, and then her bones are shaking…and then her muscles…and soon her entire body is vibrating. That's when the pain kicks in and her heart picks up the pace.

When the shaking starts, it's about five minutes before she's in pain and that gives her plenty of time to find a way to escape from her friends. Unfortunately, as of today, she had been walking to her apartment with Natsu and Happy when the shaking was set in motion. It made her panic when she couldn't get away from him for a moment…and of course, the panic made it come quicker. Luckily, she fed the lie that she forgot something at the guild hall and told them that she'd meet up with them at her house. They wanted to go back with her (that was when she panicked) but she was able to convince them that she'll be okay. When she turned the corner, she sprinted toward the forest, which also made it situation worse. The running makes her heart speed up and of course that was the part of the problem. The pain came five times quicker than normal and she barely reached the forest before she tumbled onto the ground trying not to scream.

When Lucy calmed down, she was sticky from the sweat and sat up with her back pressed against the trunk of the tree, still taking deep breaths.

"Here," Porlyusica said, taking a potion out of her pocket and handing it to her.

It was a clear, bubbly liquid with a hint of grey. Lucy gratefully took it and gulped it all down. "Thank you."

"Another panic attack?" Porlyusica narrowed her eyes, "how frequent are they now?"

Lucy sighed, "twice a week."

"Anything different from the last time we talked about it?"

Lucy brushed her bangs, wet from sweat, out of her eyes, "my temperature went up just a bit…and I did that." She pointed to the tree branch, which was completely dislodged from the base of the tree, and the nail marks in the bark. "Other than that…nothing else that I know of."

Porlyusica hummed, "the attacks are becoming more frequent. Come with me, Child."

She held out her hand, which Lucy took with a smile. She was pulled onto her feet slowly, still recovering from her recent panic attack.

When they arrived at Porlyusica's house, Lucy sat on the small bed as the old lady ran around her alchemy stations. "I should still scold you for taking on such a burden for that dragon slayer!" Her voice went hard. "You humans always rush into things without thinking!"

"I don't regret it," Lucy says. "I would do it all over again, five times the amount of pain. It's not his problem anymore, it's mine and that's the way I want it to be. I'm not sorry."

Porlyusica sighed, "I guess that's the beauty of humans…they'll go far for love."

Lucy raised her eyebrow despite the blush on her face. The old lady had never shown a fact that she liked about humans…it was surprising.

Porlyusica grabbed a thermometer and walked over to Lucy, sticking it into her ear. "Speaking of which, have you told him?"

"Have I told him what? The truth or that I love him?"

"Both."

"Uh," Lucy blushed again, as the pink haired lady switched ears. "I haven't told him I love him yet…too nervous."

"You must be blind not to see that he loves you too. Of course, _all_ humans are pathetically blind…I'm not around Natsu often, but it's easy to tell."

Lucy didn't say anything.

"And the truth?"

"I will never tell him the truth," Lucy pulled at her skirt. "If I did, he would do anything he possibly could to undo I mess I put myself in for him."

Porlyusica seemed to stare her down as she pulled the thermometer out of Lucy's ear and then sighed, "I won't say anything on your behalf. You made me do it, but you should know I can't undo it either. What's done is done. I had warned you, Girl!"

Lucy nodded with a smile, "I know and thank you, Porlyusica. I don't blame you nor do I regret my decision in the slightest. I won't ever regret it…what's my temperature?"

"105 degrees Fahrenheit." (40.6'C)

Lucy's eyes widened for a moment and then she relaxed. "It's strange, I don't feel any different."

Porlyusica put a hand on her forehead, "you're incredibly hot…Hopefully it won't keep going up. If it does, your friends will notice quickly."

"A few of them had already asked if I feel sick, but I just brush it off, saying that its just a little hot in the room…thankfully, Natsu hasn't noticed. His temperature is too warm to know."

"Unfortunately, it looks like it'll get worse."

"Well I'm going to die," Lucy chuckled, "of course it's going to get worse."

"You're not going to die," Porlyusica said, "you know what'll happen."

"I know…but I might as well be dead…"

"…But you're right, Girl…it'll get worse," It was silent for a moment before the old woman spoke up again. "It seems your strength has increased as well, judging by the branch you accidentally snapped and the nail marks in the tree, you're twice as strong as you should be."

Lucy nodded, "I was writing a letter to my mother when I accidentally broke my pencil by just tapping it against my desk…and my fork was crushed when I squeezed it too hard while eating…"

Porlyusica looked away, "there's nothing I can do for you than give my support. For now, all we can do is wait."

Lucy nodded.

"Now go take a quick shower! You reek of sweat and you're sticky too. I'm sure your friends will be suspicious when you arrive home looking and smelling like a pig!"

"Yes ma'am!" Lucy exclaimed, standing up and going toward the bathroom.

"Be quick too!" the woman snapped, "that potion I gave you earlier is drowsy and supposed to relax your body! It'll kick in in an hour and I don't want you passing out on my newly swept floors!"

"Don't worry, Porlyusica! I'll be quick! I promise!"

"Don't forget to use as cold of water as you can!"

"I won't!"

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When Lucy shut the front door to her apartment, the potion was kicking in. She could barely keep her eyes open as she stumbled into her bedroom, ready to end the day.

"Lucy! There you are!"

"Whaaaa?" Lucy drowsily looked over, rubbing her eyes.

"We've been waiting here forever!" Happy exclaimed, "We were starting to get worried! Natsu was about to go look for you!"

"Oh sorry," she yawned. "I got into a conversation with Levy about the Harry Potter series."

"Figures," Happy murmured, but Natsu stood up and walked over to her.  
"Woah," he said, "you look tired, Luce."

"Uh huh…I think I'm going to hit the hay."

As Lucy lied down that night, she curled up against Natsu, who gladly snuggled back. She hadn't yelled that him and Happy to get out when they'd break in nor had she scolded them for sleeping with her. Lucy knew she wasn't going to last much longer so she's going to get the most out of it as she could.

Lucy had one last thought before letting sleep – and the potion – take a hold of her: " _if I had to do it all over again, I would. I don't care what Natsu would say. I'd do it again in a heartbeat._ "

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 **So yeah, I hope I didn't give too much away, but I'm really excited to write this! XD the story is titled, "Where is END?"**

 **-zEllie**


	2. Part 1: The Misery (Prologue)

**Zeref and Mavis are dead! At first, I was like, aww...they're dead...And THERE'S ONLY NINE MORE FLIPPING CHAPTERS OF FAIRY TAIL! NOOO! IT CAN'T END! IT'S ONLY BEEN 530 CHAPTERS, NO BIG DEAL! After like four days, I suddenly realized that I know Zeref is dead now, I can post my prologue to Where is END?! Here you guys go!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Prologue)

In the very first days of Earthland, long before any of our favorite heroes were born, a woman, dressed in a cheetah's hide, sat within her home, making a blanket out of wool. She lived in a hollowed out tree isolated in a forest near a pond and her own garden; she often talked to the birds and animals that strolled by, far too lonely not to.

There wasn't that many people in the world: maybe a hundred at maximum and everyone was spread around. The world was a big place…and with only a hundred people populating it, there was more than plenty of land for own person to own.

That's why it surprised her to see a man as she picked apples from her orchard.

His skin was fair and his hair was dark; he was beautifully handsome, not that this woman had seen many men in her life, only her father and her brothers before they all had moved to their own locations on the planet.

At first, she didn't move from behind the tree and simply stared at him as if he had three heads. He wasn't wearing any hides covering his chest, giving her a full view of the sweat glistening down his built muscles. He looked like he had just run a mile or two.

The man leaned down to get a drink at her pond and she plucked up the courage to move a bit closer.

Ironically, she stepped on a twig, snapping it with a loud pop.

The man whipped his head around to look at her, but the woman simply stared at him, "Now why on earth would ya be here?"

What kind of question was that? That was what his face said.

"There's a dragon in these parts, ain't it? Em gonna kill it." His accent was very similar to her own, but that wasn't the point.

Of course there was a dragon here. There were practically dragons everywhere you looked; heck, there were more dragons on the planet then there were humans. None of them bothered the woman though, so the woman never bothered them.

She laughed half-heartedly, "An' how do ya plan to do that, eh?" Look at him: he didn't even have a combatable weapon with him to defend himself from wolves. What made him think that he could slay a dragon?

He simply laughed back, turning back to the pond and taking another drink. "With mah weapons, but I lost em, choked down by an iron dragon. It dead of course, but all mah defenses are gone."

The woman raised her eyebrows. If what this mysterious man said was true, dragons seemed easy enough to slay. He _did_ pack a lot of muscle, and the woman couldn't see a small man slaying a large dragon. However, she could use some company that wasn't an animal.

"Why don' ya stay awhile?" She asked, "I ave plenty of iron an spare blankets. I could use some company too an ya look hungry."

He looked at her, away, and then back, nodding, smiling at her, "Name's Adam."

"Em Eve."

Eve gave Adam all the iron and stone he needed to make his weapons. She had no men's clothing, so she began to make some as Adam worked. The two hardly spoke to one another; two strangers living together for a while would do that, but Eve found a small way to fix that.

Adam's weapons were intriguing. Some were like _large_ knives and others were that of a woodcutters' axe, but with only a sharper end. She easily recognized the spears, it's what Eve uses to catch fish and kill wolves.

She had asked Adam about the strange weapons he made and he kindly took the time to explain what they were and how to use them, he even taught her how to use a…uh..shword? Ward? Sord? Swhord? Something like that. It was heavy to lift, but once Eve got the hang of it, she understood how useful it could be.

After the training session was over, the awkwardness came haunting back.

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It had been about three days since Eve had met the dragon slayer. He had finished making all of his weapons, but had now needed food and supplies for the continuing journey. "The iron dragon ate mah supplies along with mah weapons," Adam had claimed.

Eve didn't mind, something within her wanted him to stay; she didn't fight it, it was the fear of being alone again even though she knew he'd have to leave eventually.

The two had went out to Eve's vegetable garden and apple orchard, picking food for both Adam's journey and Eve's winter storage.

The woman had climbed a tree to reach a good looking apple. She was picky with that sort of thing: all of her apple had to be wormhole free with no soft spots.

"Eve, be areful."

"I am; I've done this many 'imes."

Of course, ironically, the branch she was hanging on as she reached for the apple snapped.

She screamed, falling, but instead of hitting the hard ground, she was caught.

"Wha did I just say?" Adam was smirking at her, which Eve discovered that she hated. Pouting, she crossed her arms, trying to ignore the blush.

"Can ya put me down?"

"Wha? I don' getta 'thank ya'?" Still smirking.

Yup, she hated that smirk.

Eve rolled her icy blue eyes, but let a small smile break out onto her face, "…thank ya…an I got tha apple," she held up the prized apple in her hands.

Adam laughed at her, still holding her in his arms.

"Uh…ya can put me down now."

"O-oh."

As soon as he did, another apple fell, landing on his head. "Ouch!" Adam exclaimed, and put his hand on his black hair.

Eve found herself bent over laughing. That shocked expression he wore when the fruit hit his head was priceless.

Adam pouted at her, but her laugh, he discovered, was just as beautiful as her head of long curly, orange hair that glowed in the sunlight.

He found himself laughing along with her.

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Part One: The Misery

Part Two: ?

Part Three: ?

Part Four: ?

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 **I hope you enjoyed and bear with me, I know there wasn't any Fairy Tail in this, but just trust me okay? I got this!**

 **-zEllie**


	3. Part 1: the Misery (Chapter 1)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Ch. 1)

Part 1: The Misery

When Natsu's flames began to evaporate from his body as he lay unconscious, Lucy panicked. When she shouted and touched him, the freezing cold temperature he had freaked her out even more. Natsu had never been cold before; heck, he was the _opposite_ of cold! Natsu and cold were never put into the same sentence and here she was, thinking of how cold his skin was.

When Happy revealed that if Zeref died and that Natsu would as well, not only was Lucy shocked, but she was confused as well. Why didn't he tell her? Not only were they partners, but best friends who told each other what they wouldn't tell anyone else about. She wasn't mad though. Natsu was probably trying to figure out how to tell her. If their roles were reversed, she would be having that problem, but even if Natsu didn't plan to tell her at all, she was okay with that. He had his reasons.

However, that was the least of her worries. She was begging him to wake up, to open his eyes and give her that smile she loves. She went as far as stripping and lying against him naked (he was naked too). Even though it was super embarrassing, she'd rather go through the teases she'd get at the guild when this was all over than for him to die.

After ten embarrassing minutes, Porlyusica pulled Lucy off him and she wrapped herself in a blanket to hide herself as the old lady checked him over.

Suddenly, Porlyusica gasped.

"What?!" Lucy's eyes widened. Happy stood up as well, "what is it?! Is he okay?!...No, don't tell me he's-"

"He's not dead," Porlyusica said, "at least not yet."

"W-what do you mean, 'not yet'?" Happy asked, worried.

"Lucy," the old lady said, pulling Natsu's pants onto his unconscious body. "Put your clothes back on."

"What?! Why?! What happened?!" She didn't move.

"He's dying. There's nothing we can do."

Her heart stopped beating…and Happy started crying. Evergreen, Brandish, and Carla stayed silent behind them around the unconscious Gray and Juvia, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry."

Lucy exploded, "you can't be sorry!" She shouted, "you just gave up! You didn't do anything! We don't even know what's wrong with him and you just give up?! You're not sorry! You can't just tell me that there's no hope!"

Instead of snapping back at her as the hated-humans woman normally would have, she looked down instead, "well…there _is_ something I can do, but I'd rather not perform it…"

Happy, obviously as confused as Lucy was, shouted, "what do you mean you'd rather not perform it?! If it'll save him, do it!"

"It's not that simple…I'd like to speak to Lucy privately if that's alright."  
"N-no!" Lucy said, "if you have a secret to tell, you can tell all of us!"

"No," Happy shook his head, wiping away his tears, "it's okay. We can leave for the time being. We'll be in the next room."

"H-Happy," Lucy looked over at him, "are you sure?"

"Yeah," He nodded.

Still not convinced, Lucy looked over at Evergreen and Carla who nodded agreeably with a smile. Brandish pulled Dimaria over her shoulder, nodding at Lucy as well. "I'll take her with me."

"Let go of me, Randi," Dimaria hatefully murmured, but had no strength to shove her off.

Evergreen ran over to help Brandish carry the burnt girl to the next room with Carla and Happy following. Before they disappeared though, Happy turned to Lucy one last time, smiling confidentially. Lucy returned the gesture before they were gone and she spun to face Porlyusica.

"Well?"

"I lied."

Lucy raised her eyebrows, finally shedding the blanket and pulling on her clothes. "What?"  
"I lied," she repeated, "I know what's wrong; I know what's killing him."

"…Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Because the solution is the worst possible solution there is and I didn't want to tell you," she responded, "but I wanted you to think that you could still save him."

"…and can we?"

"Yes, there is a way…but I do not, under any circumstances, want to do it."

"Well," Lucy pressed, "I wanna know. First off, tell me what's killing him."

"Okay. Do you know what the dragon seed is?"

"Uh…no."

"When Natsu began to use dragon slayer magic, a dragon seed was planted within him. It is supposed to grow and cause Natsu to turn into a dragon. However, thanks to Igneel, it has been suppressed."

Lucy nodded, understanding everything so far. "What does this have to do with what's killing Natsu?"

"He has another seed in him."

She raised her eyebrows, "what?"

"He has a demon seed in him too."

"A…demon seed?"

"Yes," Porlyusica looked down, "when I inspected him, I saw that…" she trailed off.

"…That what? What did you see?"

"…I saw that Natsu is END."

Lucy looked down.

"I saw that he's Zeref's most powerful demon and-"

"I know," the blonde looked back up at her. "I know that he's END, I know that he's Zeref's younger brother, and I know that he was born 400 years ago and brought here by the Eclipse Gates…I've always known."

A shocked face was not something Lucy would normally see from Porlyusica, but revealing that you've known the truth since the beginning would surprise anybody.

"H-how do you know?"

"My spirit, Grandpa Crux, it's thanks to him. Do you remember how I knew that the Eclipse Gates were going to let the dragons through during the Grand Magic Games?"

"No, I don't."

"It was thanks to Grandpa Crux. He was researching the gates and told me about it when I was standing in front of it. He did the same to Natsu when I first met him in Hargeon. When he dragged me toward Fairy Tail we stopped at a hotel for the night. That's Grandpa Crux appeared to me. He told me who Natsu really was and I understood everything, but I didn't listen to him. If Natsu was going to kill me, he would've already done it…and I was lonely. I was wandering around Fiore for a year after running away from home. He and Happy were the closest people I had to friends…and they were taking me to my dream guild so I followed them."

Porlyusica was still surprised, but it made sense now.

"What does this have to do with Natsu dying? So he has two seeds? No big deal. What's the problem there?"

The old lady shook herself out of her trance. "The demon seed and dragon seed are trying to fuse together. That's what killing him."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Well what can we do to stop it?! What's your plan?!"

"I can take one of the seeds out of him."

"Well then do it!" Lucy demanded.

"It's not that simple," she replied. "I can't just _take_ one of the seeds out and be done with it. I have to put it somewhere; it has to go in someone."

Lucy stayed silent and then hung her head, hiding her eyes with her bangs. The look on her face was a mixture of seriousness, determination, and consideration.

"I'd have to leave the dragon seed. If I took it out, he wouldn't be able to use his magic and it's been suppressed so it wouldn't do anything. I'd have to take the demon seed out of him, but I have to put it somewhere else. What I wanted to talk to you about is that if we do this, where should I put it?"

"Put it in me."

Porlyusica's eyes widened, "w-what?"

"Put the demon seed inside of me. That's what's causing the fusion, right? Because there's two seeds and you have to put one somewhere? Well, take the demon seed out of Natsu and put it inside of me."

"L-Lucy! The demon seed is technically END, itself! If I put it in you, Natsu would no longer be END and would no longer be able to use fire demon magic! It'll be you! _You'll_ be END! _You_ will be Zeref's most powerful demon if I put that demon seed in you! And the seed hasn't been suppressed! You'll eventually turn completely into a fire demon!"

"I don't care!" Lucy hissed, "just do it!"  
"I'll be dooming you! I can't! Do you not know how many people want END to die?! Gray was just trying to kill him an hour ago! And Acnologia too wants to kill him!"  
"I. Don't. Care!" Lucy grabbed her shoulders. "If that's the case, so be it! I'll die if I have to, just save him!"

The determined look in Lucy's eyes held a large mass of love in them and Porlyusica could easily see it. She sighed, biting her lip. "I can't do that to you, Lucy."

"HE'LL DIE IF YOU DON'T!" She stayed silent and Lucy spoke again, "this is on me, Porlyusica. This is my decision, not yours. I don't blame you; this is on me."

The old lady opened her mouth to argue again, but sighed, "if I do this, there's no turning back. If I put it in you, I can't take it back out again."

Lucy nodded, "that's okay. I wouldn't want the demon seed in anybody else."

Porlyusica nodded, "grab his hand; hold on tight. Just a warning, this might sting a bit."

As the old lady jumped up, Lucy did just that, intertwining their fingers together. She always loved the feeling of her soft hands against his callused ones…and she adored the fact that their hands fit each other's perfectly.

Porlyusica came back with a potion in her hand. She forcefully opened Natsu's mouth making him drink it all down.

"Now what?" Lucy asked, gripping his hand to her harder.

"Wait a moment…"

The two did and soon the center of Natsu's chest, where his heart was, began to glow black. It was like the darkness that was in him as END was surfacing. Lucy watched as the darkness began to move from his heart; it made a trail to his shoulder and down his arm to their hands. Lucy hissed as the darkness continued to travel up her arm, to her shoulder, and stopped where her heart was. It stung as Porlyusica said, but Lucy bore with it.

The line of darkness from Natsu's heart to hers was very interesting. It was a trail of black from one person to another and seemed endless. It lasted for nearly five minutes until the darkness from Natsu's heart was gone and finished the last bit of its journey to Lucy's heart. She didn't like the amount of darkness she now carried around with her at all times, but she would take it as long as Natsu would be okay; it was worth it.

Speaking of which…

"Is…" Lucy ignored the pins and needles in her arm and chest as she looked over her favorite dragon slayer, still holding his hand, "…is he okay?"

"Yes," Porlyusica nodded, but didn't smile. "The demon seed is gone now; the fusion has stopped. He should wake up in a few minutes."

Lucy gasped in joy, smiling brightly and squeezing his hand. "Thank you, Porlyusica! Thank you!"

"I am not proud of what I just did…"

"It's not on you," Lucy smiled at her, "it's on me. Natsu isn't END anymore, I am and I don't regret my decision at all." Her smile then disappeared, "but I have to say, what just happened, stays between us. No one will ever know that I'm END now and it's no longer Natsu. Not even _he_ will know that's he's human again. Don't tell anybody, especially my friends…and especially Natsu."

"I won't breathe a word," Porlyusica said, accepting Lucy's decision. "As long as you want, I won't say one word to any soul out there."

"Thank you," Lucy said, "thank you for saving Natsu."

Porlyusica nodded, "I'll go let the others in the next room know that he's okay. I have to make up a lie in your favor so they wouldn't know what you did."

Lucy nodded as the old lady disappeared. She gently kissed Natsu's scarred cheek, letting her lips linger on his skin longer than necessary, and clutched his hand to her now dark heart that bore his demon seed. "It's okay now, Natsu…all that's left is for you to wake up…"

Etherious Natsu Dragneel is no more. Etherious _Lucy Heartfilia_ has now taken his place…not that anyone would ever know…

Besides, there was nothing wrong with just simply bearing darkness inside you…

Right?

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 **Did you guys get my theory?! My theory is that Lucy had always known that Natsu is END. I saw the knowing look on her face when Porlyusica said that the tumor in Natsu wasn't an anti-ethernano, it something else that held sinister, demonic power. She had that look on her face like she knew exactly what she was talking about…and the way she immediately said, "I need to go find Natsu,** _ **now**_ **!" just summed it all up!**

 **-zEllie**


	4. Part 1: the Misery (Chapter 2)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Ch. 2)

Part 1: The Misery

According to Porlyusica's lie she fed Fairy Tail, she and Lucy gave Natsu a healing potion and used light magic to stop the fusion of the two seeds and suppress the demon seed. Somehow, Natsu knew about the seeds fusing together so it took a bit of brainstorming to come up with a believing lie, but it worked.

After the pins and needles wore off, Lucy didn't feel any different. She still felt human and not like she was going to turn into a demon one day. Natsu was extremely grateful to Porlyusica and Lucy for saving him. When the war was over, the dragon slayer and Happy did everything Lucy said, left her food in the cabinets, her novel unread, received their full reward on missions by not destroying anything, and even went shopping for her if she needed it. The only thing they continued to do is break into her apartment and fall asleep in her bed.

Not that Lucy minded, in fact, if they stopped, she'd feel lonely and drag their butts back to her apartment. During the year Fairy Tail was disbanded, Lucy realized how much she loved her partners…Natsu in particular. However, despite this fact, she wanted to know why they wouldn't stop breaking in.

"When I'm next to you, I feel like you're safe – that I'm keeping you safe. After watching you die for the second time, there's no way I can sleep at night without you there anymore."

Lucy remembers replying, "What a coincidence. Every time I'm next to you at night, I feel safer than I'd be anywhere. When you're not there, I feel like someone's going to swoop in and kidnap me."

Natsu had smiled at her, "you don't need to worry, Luce, I'll be there every night."

She had smiled back, "you better be. If not, I'll hunt you down."

He chuckled, enveloping her in a hug and repeated, "I'll be there every night. I promise."

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"Lucy!"

Lucy squealed before dropping her pen that she was using to write a letter to her mom and turned around, seeing Natsu and Happy come through the window. "Stop sneaking up on me like that!"

"We're sorry Lucy!" The two got on their hands and knees, bowing to her. "We won't do it again! We promise!"

Lucy giggled before rolling her eyes, "arise, Peasants!" she joked, "Seriously, you don't have to keep doing nice stuff for me…"

On her command, Natsu and Happy were on their feet again, ignoring the fact that they were called peasants, "yes, we do!" Natsu grinned largely at her, "you saved me! I have to return the favor!"

Lucy shook her head, "you saved me many thousand times Natsu. Think of _that_ as returning the favor." Even though that wasn't what she was thinking at the time, it was true.

She was still sitting in her chair at her desk when the look on Natsu's face became serious, but at the same time, soft and gentle. He walked up to her and gripped each of the chair arms, trapping her, and leaned in close. Lucy squeaked and leaned back when their noses were only inches apart.

"S-so close…" she muttered.

"You've saved me so many times, I've lost count," Natsu said. "You've saved me so much more than I've saved you; with you around, I'm able to stay sane…and if there's nothing else I'm sure of, it's only your voice I can hear…"

Lucy licked her lips: a simple act that she didn't even know she carried out, but it drew in Natsu's attention. He zeroed in on her red, plump lips and the words he was speaking earlier faded into gibberish mumbling. He began to unconsciously lean in.

Happy snickered.

Natsu snapped out of it, standing up straight and turning to him, "What are you snickering about over there, Happy?"

"Oh nothing…" Happy bit back another snicker as a smile surfaced. He glanced over at Lucy's shocked face and read her expression easily: " _Was he about to kiss me?!_ "

Honestly, neither Lucy nor Happy knew what he was about to do. He was Natsu. He could've being leaning in to see if she had a pimple and then mention it to her for all they knew…or maybe he _was_ going to kiss her. They'd never know.

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"Lucy!"

"Levy!"

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy had just gotten home from a mission in Hargeon. They had gone to the guild hall for dinner before calling it a day when Levy appeared.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Lu!" Levy exclaimed, jumping into Lucy's arms in gladness.

"I know!" Lucy hugged her short friend back, "it feels like forever!"

Levy suddenly left Lucy's arms with a concerned expression, "are you okay, Lu? You feel a little warm…" She stood on her tiptoes to feel Lucy's forehead.

"I'm fine," Lucy replied. "Mira has the temperature up; it's kinda hot in here…or maybe it's just me!" She laughed. "Oh! Levy, I bought this book in the bookstore at Hargeon! I've already read five chapters and it's _awesome!_ "

"Really?! Tell me about it!"

The two book lovers went on and on about a new author with an amazing book while eating dinner when Lucy's stomach started to rumble…well, rumble isn't the correct word. It was more like _vibrate_.

At first, Lucy just ignored it, but from the pit of her stomach, after five minutes of chatting with Levy, Erza, and Cana, it began to spread. Her chest and abdomen were vibrating; again, she continued to ignore it until Erza noticed.

"Lucy, you okay?" She asked, "Your hand is shaking."

It drew Cana and Levy's attention to her hand which rested on the table. Lucy looked down at it with a confused expression as it shook against the wooden table. She then looked down at her other hand which was mimicking its brother. Her feet were doing the same thing along her knees, and she couldn't stop it.

"You know," Lucy said, "now that you mention it, I don't really feel so well; I think I ate too much. I'm gonna go home and get some shut eye," she stood up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Cana asked.

"Yeah," Lucy smiled. "I'll be fine. I'm just tired, misshapen, and my stomach aches, but it'll pass, guys. Don't worry."

The three of them seemed to believe her. Levy smiled back, "alright, goodbye Lu! Be safe walking home!"

Lucy smiled back, grabbing her purse and waving, "I will! Bye guys!"

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Lucy was in pain by the time she entered her house. It was _almost_ enough to make her want to double over, but she was able to handle it. She took a quick hot, steamy shower before deciding to crawl into bed early when she realized she made a big mistake.

She should've known that taking a hot shower while you have a fever was counter-productive. Lucy only knew she _had_ a fever once she saw that she was sweating and took her temperature. She stepped into the shower anyway, refusing to take a cold one.

The pain began to double when she cleaned herself and she barely had enough time to put her pajamas on when she fell on her knees in the middle of her bedroom.

That was it; she was gone.

"Gahh!" She let out and curled into a ball. Her entire body ached all over! Well, "ached" isn't the correct word to use. It _burned_. It felt like she was being burned and electrocuted at the same time from the inside out. Lucy thrashed, accidentally kicking over her trashcan, causing all the continents in it to spill, but she didn't care. Her body thrashed violently against the floor and she couldn't help, but scream.

" _A spasm attack?! Why am I having a spasm attack?_ "

That thought made her panic and that made it worse. She screamed against as her back arched and she slammed her foot against her bedpost. She didn't notice the pain compared to her whole body.

" _No, this is a panic attack…Why?_ "

It spiked up and she screamed again; the pain was unbearable!

It was up for a moment and then came back down. Quickly, the pain was gone within ten seconds like it wasn't there to begin with.

Lucy lay there, panting, staring up at the ceiling. " _It's…gone?_ " Slowly, she sat up, but didn't stand, not wanting to bring it back. What the heck just happened?

"Lucy!"

She screamed and inwardly cursed. Her heart just jumped at the scare her just received! She didn't want to jumpstart the panic attack again!  
Weirdly, her body reacted normally to the scare. She didn't feel any pain nor was there any trace of her panic attack, except for the sweat sticking to her shirt of course.

"Wha!" She spun around, "Natsu?! Happy?!"

"Are you okay?!" Natsu asked, helping her to her feet. She panicked again; they didn't see her, did they?!

"Y-yeah," she rubbed her head, "I just tripped." Thankfully, the tipped trashcan could vouch for that.

"We heard you scream," Happy said, looking her over to make sure there weren't any wounds.

"That's because I was falling," Lucy said. Phew! They didn't see her. "I'm fine, you two! Really!" She cleaned up the fallen trash as Happy let out a sigh of relief, but Natsu didn't seem convinced.

"Are you sure you're okay, Luce?"

Lucy smiled at his concern and hugged him. She buried her face in his scarf as her fingers curled in his soft pink locks. "Yes, I'm fine, Natsu. I really am."

Natsu was surprised at the sudden hug, but returned it, nuzzling into her hair and breathing in her scent, "okay, if you say so."

As Lucy lay in bed that night curled against Natsu, she begun to think of any possible reason for her sudden panic attack.

Could she have been hit with a spell on the mission earlier? No, Lucy clearly remembers the attacker being immediately wiped out by Natsu. Could she have eaten something? No, no food poisoning would give her an attack like that. Could she just be coming down with something? If she had a sickness that terrible, then why had it stopped, especially so quickly?

Hold on…

Could the panic attack be from the demon seed?

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 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	5. Part 1: the Misery (Chapter 3)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Ch. 3)

Part 1: The Misery

"It was like I was being electrocuted and burned alive at the same time from the inside out," Lucy explained hastily as Porlyusica ran throughout her small house to get the supplies she needed. "It started with vibrations."

"Vibrations?"

"Well, more like shaking…or, I don't know, something like that! My stomach began to ache a bit, but it felt more like my insides were shivering, then it spread to my bones, my muscles, and I could feel it! Then I was shaking all over and I couldn't stop it! Levy said I was a little warm in the guild too; I didn't feel any different, but when my bones were shaking at home, I had a fever. It went up…" Lucy rattled on and on about last night's events.

"When did this happen?" Porlyusica asked. "When did this start?"

"Um, I don't know. It was dinnertime."

"When did it end?"

"I-I don't know, but the sun was down and it was late…"

"You should've come see me immediately after your panic attack. No matter how late it was," Porlyusica ran over to Lucy, pushing her blonde locks out of the way and stuck something in her ear. It made the Celestial wizard jump out of surprise.

When it beeped and Porlyusica glanced at it before sticking it in her other ear, Lucy could see that it was a thermometer. "I'm sorry, I'll make sure I come here immediately afterwards next time."

"You better."

The thermometer beeped again and Porlyusica looked at it before muttering something under her breath and walking over to her calendar. "All this happened yesterday, correct?"

"Yes, last night."

She marked something down before walking toward her alchemy station. As she began to brew something, Lucy, who had been sitting on Porlyusica's small bed, stood up and walked over to her calendar to see what she had written. It was on yesterday's date. She had circled it. "100.3'F left ear; 100.6'F right ear," (37.9'C and 38.1'C) on it.

"I…still have a fever?...I don't feel sick…"

Porlyusica mumbled something, concentrating on her work. Lucy slowly turned to her. "Porlyusica?"

"What is it?! I'm a bit busy trying to help you if you haven't noticed!" She didn't turn to face her when she snapped.

Despite her harshness, Lucy had no one else to talk to about this situation, "You don't think…this panic attack came from…t-the demon seed…do you?"

Porlyusica stopped, turning to the blonde.

It was a long, quite moment of silence and staring. The two women seemed to be reading each other's minds, but the elder spoke anyway, scowling and turning back to her work: "Of course it did! I warned you what would happen if you moved the demon seed from Natsu into you, but you refused to listen to reason! Now, you'll suffer the same fate he would've if he didn't have a suppressed dragon seed."

"But that's the thing!" Lucy exclaimed, taking a couple of steps toward her. "I knew this was coming, but I didn't expect it to be now!"

"When did you expect it to start?!"

"In nineteen years when I'm thirty-eight!"

Porlyusica continued to work, but was looking back at the blonde again, "Now why would you think that?"

"Natsu had always been a demon, but the transformation never started until a week earlier; he's nineteen." Of course, Lucy knew Natsu was born as a human and hadn't turned into a demon by Zeref until he was…whatever age, but she just estimated. "Maybe the dragon seed would've turned him into a dragon quicker if it wasn't suppressed, but the demon seed was never suppressed and it's acting up _now_! I don't understand!"

"Yes, Natsu had always been a demon up until a week ago, but the demon seed hadn't been activated until Zeref told Natsu the truth and activated it. The demon seed doesn't 'start over' when it's moved into another body. It'll continue to grow despite different flesh. Think of a plant."

Lucy blinked and ran her fingers through her bangs.

"Lucy, the demon seed will slowly turn you into a demon, but not in nineteen years. So, I'm afraid that panic attack you had will not be the only one, but I don't know when the second one is. I'm afraid this will only get worse and worse until you're completely a demon."

Lucy nodded, sighing.

"There's one more thing."

"What?"

"All the demons Zeref created were incubated in lacrimas, including Natsu. Over time and time they were given a certain amount of ethernano each day before they became 'etherious'. Zeref gave it to them little by little so their bodies would get used to it. You, however, were just given it all at once. You weren't incubated in a lacrima; you're body hadn't had a chance to take in the ethernano. Because of that, after you become a complete demon, you'll die."

For some odd reason, Lucy wasn't as surprised as she thought she would be. Her breath came out in a small puff, "How long do I have?"

"I have no clue. It'll be minutes, hours, days, weeks…I don't know."

"H-how do you know all this, Porlyusica? You seem to know a lot about demons."

"Books. Most of ones I've read on this matter are over there," she pointed to the bookshelf. "I'm sure Levy knows everything about this matter as well, most likely more than I do. I heal humans, I'm not used to working with demons; this is new for me."

" _She just called me a demon…_ " It dawned on Lucy. It felt strangely weird hearing that, not as a joke, but as seriously imperative reality.

Porlyusica finished brewing her potion and turned to give her a bottle of grayish liquid. "Now I know it's not even noon and long after your attack, but I want you to go home and take a nap. This is a drowsy potion. It's supposed to relax you and help you sleep. It'll kick in about an hour after you drink it so get home quickly."

"Okay," Lucy took it, thanking the old lady, "My friends will never know that I'm dying, especially Natsu, okay?"

"Yes, yes, we've been down this road before," she began to shove her out of her house. "Don't come back unless you have another attack!"

"Yes ma'am!"

The door slammed shut and Lucy sighed, beginning to walk home.

The door opened again, "one more thing!" she shouted.

Lucy turned to her, "yes?"

"Take cold showers!"

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Despite what Porlyusica told her to do, Lucy did not drink the potion and take a nap when she arrived at her apartment. Instead, she wrote her temperatures on the calendar like the healer had done. Afterwards, she took a cold shower, shivering as she scrubbed herself.

"I guess I just have to get used to it," Lucy sighed, covering herself in a warm, dry towel when she finished. Looking in the mirror at herself, she sighed again, "its still hard to believe…."

" _I'm dying…_ "

"Luce? Are you in here?"

Lucy nearly screamed, turning toward the closed bathroom door. She could hear Natsu come through the window and land on her bed. "Luce?"

"I'm in the bathroom! What is it, Natsu?!"  
Natsu opened the door walking in, "Got a job; wanna go?" He smiled at her, waving the flier back and forth.

Lucy glared at him. He was so utterly lucky she was wrapped in a towel. If so, he would be getting a kick to the face. Of course, if that was the case, it wouldn't do anything. When the next scenarios like this appear and he'd just walk in again.

Lucy groaned, shaking her head back and forth. "I just can't anymore with you…"

He cocked his head to the side, "you can't what?"

She groaned again, "Never mind. Get out so I can change…and yes, I'll go on that mission with you."

He flashed her his goofy smile, "awesome!" He exclaimed, shutting the door.

Lucy felt an icky feeling rise into her throat from the pit of her stomach. She swallowed the foul taste that slid antagonizing slowly down her throat again. Lucy cringed, biting her lip, and turning back to the mirror to look at her reflection.

" _It's hard to believe that one day, I'm not going to be able to see that smile again…I'm not going to be able to go on missions with Natsu and Happy…I'm not going to be able to hang out with them. I'm not going to be able to kick them out when they break in. I won't be able to stay with all my friends in Fairy Tail…_

 _I'm sick…and I'm dying…_ "

"Lucy? Are you crying?"

She jumped in her position, staring at her reflection again for her gaze had drifted toward the sink. She was crying.

"I can smell salt," Natsu's concerned voice was right outside the door.

"No," Lucy rubbed at her eyes. "I just got soap in my eyes! I'm fine."

"Are you sure?…"

Quickly dressing and rubbing at her eyes again, she walked out of the bathroom. "Yes," she smiled, "I'm fine really."

Then Natsu hugged her.

It surprised Lucy at first, but then again she should've seen it coming. Ever since the war with Alvarez, they had become touchy-feely. There were so many reasons why too…

Lucy smiled and hugged back. As she buried her face in his hair she decided that she'd take as much as she could get while she still had time. No more kicking them out of her apartment; she was going to get as much of her crazy partners as she could…

And she'd get as much of Fairy Tail as she could…

"You'd tell me, wouldn't you?" Natsu's lips were next to her ear, whispering those five words. His nose was buried in her hair and she could hear him inhaling her fresh, clean scent deeply. "You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

She searched her voice for a three letter lie, but she couldn't find it. Instead, she nodded, but even then, her head barely wanted to move.

She hated lying to him; she had never done it before and had never wanted to experience it, but here she was, lying to him. Of course, she _would_ tell him if something was wrong; she always has, but this? No, no. She would never tell him. He would just do everything in his power to reverse what she did and she wouldn't let him…he would die in her place if so.

Heck! _She_ was supposed to die in _his_ place!

" _That's the best way to go,_ " Lucy decided then, smiling to herself. " _That's the best way to die…in Natsu's place._ "

She realized that they were still hugging, not that she minded, but this was most likely the longest embrace they've shared…that was good; she needed it.

"Thank you for being such a great best friend, Natsu," She found herself murmuring, mainly to herself. It was to let herself know how blessed she was.

"Thank _you_ , Luce," he replied, nuzzling into her hair more.

"Natsu! Lucy!" Happy had flown in through the window, "what's taking you two so long-oooh…"

Lucy shoved Natsu back like he had burned her, which is something he would never-in-a-million-years do, but it was about right: her face was burning up.

Happy snickered, "I see how it is…"

"HAPPY!"

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It had only been a week since the war with Alvarez ended and everyone was still licking their wounds. Because of that, Team Natsu had taken an easy job: simply moving a fallen tree caused by a storm the other day from an elderly couples' property…Well, Lucy and Happy were doing the moving; Natsu was karate-chopping the tree into pieces with his magic.

"Hwuaaahhh!" He exclaimed, slamming his flames into the log, cutting it clean in half.

"He's having fun with it," Happy mused.

Natsu looked over at them, raising his scarf to cover his face and putting his hands together, "I am a ninja!"

Happy, Natsu's ninja-sidekick, immediately dropped the small log he was carrying and posed, "ninja!"

Lucy burst out laughing. She remembers that day; she was annoyed with the two of them then. Those were the days she didn't even know if Natsu and Happy were even human – ironically, neither of them _were_ human.

" 'You gotta be stealthy, like a ninja,' " Lucy repeated herself from eight years ago, a large smile on her face. She put her hands together to mimic them.

His scarf was covering half his face, but she could still easily see the smile underneath it. Natsu turned back to the fallen tree, "Hwuaaahhh! NINJA POWER!" He punched it.

Lucy began laughing again, hard. She could barely breathe…

Ah! The good times…but they don't last forever…

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 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	6. Part 1: the Misery (Chapter 4)

**Everybody's liking this story so far! XD I'm having fun with it as well! Thanks for reading and we have a long way to go before the ending!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Ch. 4)

Part 1: The Misery

It had been a full week since Lucy's first panic attack and it was just about to get worse. It was late at night/early morning and she was asleep with Natsu and Happy next to her, snoring away, somehow having the same dream. She had always enjoyed listening to them at night when she couldn't sleep. They'd mutter back and forth to each other about ridiculous things…and sometimes, it was her they were talking about.

Unlike those nights, Lucy was asleep when it happened; she woke up with a sudden start, shooting into a sitting position in her bed with her body shaking so hard, she felt like she was about to throw up.

"Hic!" Lucy gagged, covering her mouth with her hand. The pain she experienced from her first panic attack was down in the pit of her stomach, building up every second she held it down. She felt like a grenade, like she was about to explode. She was so hot, either from Natsu still asleep next to her or that cursed demon seed. It was probably the demon seed, but either way, she was felt like a flame.

A flaming grenade…

Lucy threw the covers off her, darting toward the bathroom. " _Running makes it worse,_ " she realized as the pain swelled twice as fast.

Lucy barely had time to knelt down at the toilet before she exploded. "Gah!" Reddish, black liquid rushed from her mouth into the toilet. " _What is that?_ " Whatever it was, it was scorching hot coming out of her mouth; it burned the back of her throat.

Lucy's head had never pounded so hard in her entire life. It hurt so bad, her vision was going blurry; all she could see was the reddish, black liquid in the toilet. Scorching tears dripped down her cheeks, mixing with her strange puke.

Her body was _burning!_ She couldn't stand it; she wanted to scream and would have if she wasn't throwing up. Lucy wished Gray was there now; she wished he was there to cool down the atmosphere – to cool down her flaming body.

Dang it! Curse that demon seed!

Lucy had finished throwing up – at least she had thought – and had fallen to the hard, white tile with a hard spasm.

This panic attack was different from the first one: she didn't throw up or cry last time, as unbearable as it was. It was a little more painful here, especially with the migraine, and she had thrashed and jerked from the white, hot pain more than last time.

" _It's already worse? The second time?_ "

"G-gah-mmph!" No, no, Lucy. Don't scream; don't scream. Don't wake up Natsu and Happy….Don't scream…

With both her hands over her mouth, muffled cries bled through like the tears that left burning trails on her cheeks.

" _No…no! go away! Go away, panic attack! Go away…Leave me alone…_ "

The panic attack began to spike up – it had been five minutes – as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Lucy curled into a ball, focusing on the small, dirty specks at the bottom of her toilet to distract herself. " _I do need to clean the bathroom again…_ "

She rocked back and forth against the tile ground…

" _I have no idea what time it is, but I bet you anything that Levy's up reading that book I gave her._ "

Muffled screams; burning tears…

" _Oh, that's right! I bought Happy his favorite kind of fish today at the market. I forgot to give it to him. I'll have to do that in the morning._ "

White hot, painful spasms…

" _I wonder if I will see my mom and dad when I die._ "

Black and red puke spilled through her fingers…

" _I love you, Natsu…_ "

It had been a full minute and Lucy felt the spasms start to escalate down…but it still was unbearably painful.

" _I love your pink hair…I love your onyx eyes…_ "

Blackish, red, hot liquid mixed with salty tears dripped to the floor and sizzled on the cold tile…

" _I love your scarf that you wear all the time…I love your fiery personality…_ "

Shaking, pain, burning throat…

" _I love the way you look at me, the way you smile at me; I love the way you talk to me and the way you protect me…_ "

Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream…

" _Natsu…I'm sorry that I have to die…_ "

She began to breathe again…

" _But I'm not sorry for taking your place…_ "

Then it was gone – five minutes later, fading away like a butterfly flying into mist.

At first, the tears kept flowing. Lucy wasn't in pain anymore, but she didn't want to move, nor did she want to bathe or wash off the sweat. She slowly took her hand away from her mouth – her palm was burning from the black and red puke – and stayed on the tile for nearly another five minutes.

Slowly, as she pulled herself to her feet, her long, blonde, ratty locks fall onto her shoulders. Lucy looked at her pitiful reflection in the mirror: she was extremely pale, like Mira's hair with eyes droopy with circles around them from either lack of sleep or the spasms. Leftover puke decorated her lips in a sickening dark color and dripped down her chin.

If she didn't know any better, she looked like she was about to collapse.

Yup, if anyone looked at her, they would know that she definitely just had some sort of attack.

Flushing the toilet and turning off the bathroom light, Lucy stumbled back into her dark bedroom; Natsu and Happy were still snoring away, oblivious to what had just taken place.

All she wanted right now was to sleep; the clock on the wall said three-thirty-four and she was physically and mentally exhausted.

But she couldn't; she had to see Porlyusica. After all, she promised her that she would no matter what time after her next panic attack and a celestial wizard never breaks her promises.

Slowly slipping on slippers, Lucy grabbed a coat and a flashlight, not bothering to lock her front door as she left. It seemed like an eternity before she reached Porlyusica's house in the forest; Lucy's entire body was sore, mostly from the attack, but the walk as well. She nearly collapsed at the front porch and had to lean against the railing for support as she mustered all the strength she had left in her weak body, banging against the wooden door.

Lucy knew that at first, there wasn't going to be an answer. The old lady was most definitely asleep, but her house was very small, the blonde didn't have to work very hard to wake her up.

She could feel herself about to pass out; she took a deep breath, raising her fist again.

*Bang! Bang!*

Lucy's knuckles tingled and she felt her head begin to hang, her vision was going blurry again, but this time, it was from exhaustion.

Suddenly, a light turned on in the house and the door was jerked open sternly.

"Now who in the world…Lucy?" The elder's voice was extremely harsh at first, but calmed as soon as she saw the celestial wizard.

"P-Porlyu..sica…" Woah, her voice was really hoarse, probably from her burnt throat….

"O-oh my! It happened, didn't it? C-come in! Come in!"

Lucy only took a step before collapsing. Porlyusica caught her in her wrinkly arms though, bringing her into the warm house and onto the bed.

Lucy was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

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Heat was all she felt when she woke up. It wasn't like Natsu's heat; this one was far more… _sinister_. It was far more lurking and haunting. It was nothing like Natsu's; his was more welcoming, loving, caring, and sheltering. This sinister heat was nothing like what Lucy was used to.

What happened?

As she opened her eyes, a wooden ceiling greeted her. Lucy looked around the room and her eyes landed on the back of an elderly, pink haired nurse.

Everything came rushing back.

She felt perfectly fine now, except for the heat that had greeted her as she woke up. It was still sneering at her, but the blonde ignored it and sat up.

"Porlyusica?" Her voice was back to normal as well.

The old lady turned around, "so you're awake, I see. How do you feel?"

"Hot," she replied, kicking the sheets off. She was still in her nightgown, "but other than that, I feel fine."

"Well that makes sense seeing that your temperature is over 106'F," she said, turning back to her alchemy stations. (41.1'C)

Lucy's eyes widened, "What?!"

"Yes…any normal human would be dead now."

The blonde looked down at her feet, "but I'm not…normal anymore."

The elder didn't respond to that. Instead, she walked toward Lucy, holding a white cloth. "What is this?" She asked.

The cloth was covered in the black and red puke Lucy had thrown up last night. Porlyusica must've wiped the leftovers from her mouth as she was sleeping.

"I threw that weirdly colored stuff up…"

"You puked? Did that happen last time?"

"No…what exactly is it?"

She sighed, "according to my tests, its human blood mixed with a little bit of demon blood."

Lucy didn't seem so surprised, but she stared at blood. "Well, the good news is that there's more human blood than demon blood because there's more red than black…That _is_ a good thing, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a good thing," Porlyusica said, walking back to her stations, "but it proves that you're more human than you are demon…at least for now. You had lost a lot of blood from throwing this up, which was why you were so pale, frail, and weak."

It was silent for a minute, giving Lucy a chance to look around. It was day out now, but she had no idea what time it is. Hopefully it was early enough to where Natsu and Happy were still asleep. Maybe she'd be able to get back home without them waking up and seeing that she's gone.

The old lady stuck a thermometer in her ears, mumbling as she pulled it out after it beeped. "The same as last night…106'F in both ears…" (41.1'C)

"Porlyusica," Lucy asked, rubbing her eyes as the nurse marked down the temperatures on her calendar. "What time is it?"

"It's two in the afternoon."

She nearly choked on air, " _What?!_ Ooooh no! Natsu's gonna kill me for disappearing! Oh, all my friends will be so worried!"

"Stop panicking! You're giving me a headache!" The old lady shouted. "Natsu and Happy tracked your scent here this morning and I told them that you had gotten a cold early in the morning and didn't want to wake Wendy. I told them that you knew that I was awake and came here instead. They wanted to see you, but I told them that you were asleep and sent them back to the guild."

Lucy sighed in utter relief, "thank goodness! I-ow!"

Porlyusica had whacked her on the head with a broom. "This is the second time I've had to lie to Fairy Tail for you! I don't want to have to do it a third time! Do you understand me?!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Lucy rubbed the top of her head. There was definitely going to be a bump there. "I-I'm sorry I slept so late…"

"I force-fed you my drowsy potion – the one I gave you last time. It caused you to sleep heavier and for a few more hours."

"Oh, thank you," Lucy smiled, still rubbing the top of her head.

Porlyusica sighed, "thank you for coming to me, even when it was so late at night."

"It's no problem. I'm sorry I had woken you up."

"It's no big deal."

It _was_ a big deal actually: Lucy had just recovered from a panic attack and judging from the dark circles underneath the nurse's eyes, she had stayed up the rest of the night helping her.

"I'll get out of your hair now," Lucy said, standing up. "I'll let you sleep." She needed to go home, shower, and change anyway. She was still in her nightgown drenched in sweat.

"Remember, cold showers."

"Yes, I've been taking cold showers."

"Good."

Lucy opened and smiled at her, waving, "Thank you for your help, Porlyusica."

"Just get out of here."

Lucy simply giggled at the harsh words, closing the door behind her.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 **This was…really harsh, but at the same time, really fluffy. XD I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	7. Part 1: the Misery (Chapter 5)

**It's been a while! I'm sorry I've been gone longer than I wanted to be, I've just been so busy! I was crying really hard after I read that last Fairy Tail chapter. I didn't want it to end! Rumor has it though that the anime is going to pick up in 2018, and it's going to go farther than the manga. I hope the rumor is true. Anyway, let's get back to my ultimate masterpiece before I go to my side stories.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Ch. 5)

Part 1: The Misery

As Lucy walked into the guild, she was immediately hit in the chest by a blue, flying fur-ball.

"Lucy!" Happy exclaimed, hugging her tightly, "I was so worried about you!"

She was a bit surprised by this sudden care-filled hug by the Exceed who teases and makes fun of her. However, she took it as she could for two reasons: she loved Happy despite his abuse to her and she was going to die soon and never get a hug like that again.

"Happy," Lucy smiled down at him, "It was just a small cold. I'm fine."

"Hey Luce."

Lucy looked up from Happy to see Natsu walking up to her with a concerned expression on his face. "Hey Natsu!" She smiled brightly, her heart pounding louder and louder in her ears with every step he took toward her. For some unknown reason, Lucy found herself wanting to fling her arms around his neck in a great, big bear hug, but she held that longing down though and only smiled at him.

"You feeling okay?" Natsu asked, cocking his head to the side when he reached her.

She nodded, "yeah, I'm sorry I worried you."

He smiled back, shaking his head, "it's okay…just wake me up next time and I can take you to Porlyusica. You didn't have to go there by yourself, especially so late at night."

"I don't want to wake you up."

Natsu shook his head again, "you're worth it."

Red-faced Lucy simply blinked twice at him; she didn't even notice Happy flying out of her arms toward Carla, saying that he was glad she was okay.

"Uh o-okay…"

Natsu blinked at her, "you sure you're feeling fine, Luce? Your face is red."

She wanted to slap him for his oblivious nature, but she held her hand to her side.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was a week later and the original Team Natsu was getting ready to leave for a mission before Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Carla came up to them, saying they had needed money as well. So it had turned into an Extended Team Natsu mission, which Lucy hadn't minded in the slightest at first – she was always happy when they tagged along, they were her friends, of course! However, when her third panic attack set in, this one worse than the first two, she wished this was a solo mission.

How in the name of Mavis could she get away from her friends as she held this demon down? They were all in the forest, which would conceal her pain, but it would do nothing if she couldn't get away from her friends.

Lucy's whole body was shaking from head to toe and she pressed her lips firmly together to keep from screaming. It hurt so bad, it felt like someone was digging up her stomach with a spoon, burning her up inside with a candle. She was surprised she wasn't curling up into a ball now.

" _I want to sleep…_ "

Erza saved her, stopping where they were in the forest and turning to them. It was one of the only times when Lucy was happy the redhead was so bossy:

"This will be quicker if we all split up," she said, "this is a big forest and the monster that's attacking the village could be anywhere. If we all split up individually, we'll cover more ground quicker."

"What?!" Natsu argued, "but I want to-"

"Are you arguing with me?!" Erza glared at him, threatening him with a stare that would even make Lucy shiver if she wasn't already – her whole body was vibrating. She was so afraid she would explode like a grenade; she could feel the demon/human blood coming up her throat, scorching like fire – demon fire.

"N-no ma'am!"

Erza sighed, "Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla, you four search from the skies; Lucy, Gray, and I will stay on the ground. We'll meet at the entrance of the forest at five o'clock. Any objections?"

Who would dare object, especially after that threat toward Natsu?

"Good," Erza said when no one spoke, turning and continuing to walk forward, disappearing into the woods.

Gray turned to his comrades, "be careful you guys; good luck."

Natsu simply growled in response, "Gray! I bet I could find and kill the monster before you do!"

"Is that a challenge, Flame Brain?!"

"You bet it is, Ice Princess!"  
Gray shot him his signature, icy smirk, "500J says your wrong!"

"Grr, you're on! Happy, let's go!"

"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed, grabbing Natsu and flying into the air, disappearing into the sky. Gray was gone right after him, turning right and running away.

Wendy giggled as her cat frowned disapprovingly, "Well Lucy," the young dragon slayer smiled at her friend, "good luck and be careful."

Lucy, in fear of opening her mouth would cause her to throw up or scream, simply smiled back through her pain and nodded.

Grabbing Wendy from behind, Carla disappeared into the sky…

…and Lucy collapsed.

She went flat on her face, dirt smudging her cheek and nose, mouth opening to let out her reddish-black blood.

She didn't scream even if she wanted to: Lucy was choking on her own blood, plus, she had held it in her throat for so long that she doubted she would be able to speak let alone scream for a while. Besides, everyone was still too close, they would hear her and come quickly enough to see her.

Her face burned as the blood oozed out of her mouth; at first she let herself simply stay on her stomach, body motionless in the dirt as she submitted to the attack, but as the blood crept into her left eye, the fire burning it shut, Lucy gathered the strength to push herself up onto her knees and elbows. She stopped the blood from getting onto her face and burning her other eye; as she gagged up dark blood, she wiped at the blood on her face desperately. The burn from her mouth, up her cheek into her left eye didn't leave though and the blonde desperately tried to open it, but it stayed sown shut.

Her arms gave out on her and Lucy's face was back into the dirty…well, now, it was a pile of scorching blood; she immediately rolled to the side away from it.

She found her throat clearing up; she had finished puking. It ended quicker than it had before, which was strange, but the electric shocks zapping throughout her body were nothing like the ones before. As the leftover blood dripped from her mouth, Lucy gasped for air, not even realizing that she wasn't breathing before, when the blood clogged up her burnt throat.

Lucy's eye was still glued shut and she let out a small scream as she clawed at the dirt, causing it to get into her nails.

" _Shh! Lucy, don't scream!_ "

She screamed anyway.

Lucy didn't know how long she lay on the ground, one eye wide open, unblinking in fear, and the brother stayed shut in pain. Every once in a while, she'd let out a shriek as her body was constantly in spasm. It seemed like endless hours, but it couldn't be. Her first panic attack was five minutes, the second was ten; it should only be twenty minutes unless she's simply not thinking straight, which seemed most likely.

"Grrr…."

Hiccupping, Lucy weakly lifted her head, blonde hair full of dirt and dark blood, to stare at the monster the job requested for her and her friends to slay. It didn't attack, but took a few steps toward her. It was a Forest Vulcan and it simply stared at her.

Slowly, Lucy pushed herself to her knees, failing a few times and falling onto her face, but she managed to get shakily onto her feet while her panic attack spiked up. She screamed and gasped before looking up at the Vulcan. It was very tall, but she wasn't scared.

"…kill..m-me…"

It cocked his head to the side at her scratchy voice, watching her tears slide out of the open brown eye.

"P-..p-please…please kill me…please."

It still didn't move and Lucy was so close to passing out, but she took fragile steps toward the Vulcan. Setting her hands against it's fur, Lucy squeezed her working eye shut to join it's brother.

"T-take it away…please, the pain..i-it's too much…I'd rather die now…kill me..please…"

The Vulcan jerked away, irritated with the celestial wizard's cling to him. "Grr…"

"N-no!" Lucy shouted gripping at the Vulcan harder, jumping closer to it, "you have to kill me! Kill me now! Please! Let me die! Let me die!"

She coughed up more blood, gripping the monster tighter for support. Her hands slipped and the Vulcan fell onto his back, but Lucy just jumped onto his chest, grabbing onto him again.

"Let me die!"

Her hands slipped again as she squeezed, but she grabbed on again anyway. As she begged and begged for death, her hands kept on slipping, but she continued to grab on. The monster was doing nothing and she could feel something gooey on her hands when she constantly grabbed him, but she didn't care. The pain clouded any thoughts; she continued to beg.

"Kill me! Let me die, let me die, let me die! Please, please kill me! Let me die, let me die. Let me…l-l-..let me die…d-die…die…"

The panic attack simmered down until it was nothing, but the burning blood still stung her face and eye. Lucy had lost a lot of blood and was so tired now…so very tired…

Slowly, Lucy stood up away from the Vulcan, opening her good eye.

In front of her was a dead Vulcan with its chest and stomach ripped open with it's insides in a mess.

She didn't really know what to think. At first, it was: " _did I do that?_ " then she drew a blank, but at the same time, she put the pieces together and wasn't surprised.

The demon seed is infusing strength into her muscles – strength that was supposed to be Natsu's – strength that belonged to a demon, to END. Lucy looked down at her hands: they were completely coated with bright red, Vulcan blood. She rubbed it against her fingers, smearing it against her skin. Looking at the Vulcan again, she felt pity. The monster she had made a desperate request to had backfired.

She felt hot; her vision blurred.

She remembered falling; she remembered black.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Gray trudged alongside the trees, hands in his pocket with his head slumped down. "Man, who knew finding a monster in the forest could be so hard…I feel like I've been looking forever."

Sighing, the ice mage checked his watch: it was nearly five o'clock. He had better get back to the entrance like Erza said or else he'd have to face her wrath. He shivered at the mere thought of it.

Whistling a tune Ur had taught him a long time ago, Gray went south back toward the town; he had not idea how far he had to go, but he knew he was going the right direction. He had been walking for only five minutes before he came across a green furry creature.

He stopped in his path, eyes widened.

The monster – which he could now see that it was a Forest Vulcan – lie dead; its stomach and chest had been dug and torn out of its body like a predator had gotten to it. Gray put his hand against his mouth to keep from throwing up: there was a lot of blood.

A few feet away were more blood – just a pile of it though – but he could tell it wasn't the Vulcan's blood. The monster's blood was bright red whereas the pile of blood was darker…and it looks like there some black blood too.

Gray recovered from the scene, shaking his head and chuckling, "oh Natsu…I guess I owe him some money."

It would only be Natsu that would do such a number on the Vulcan…and if Gray didn't know any better, that's a pile of demon blood. It seems the pyro had taken a few hits.

He bit his lip; he had forgotten: Natsu was still a demon despite the war against Zeref and Alvarez being over. His best friend was still a demon…Gray had to start searching for something to be able to defeat END, but spare Natsu. It's going to be a hard task, but if it was to save his best friend, then he'd gladly go the length.

Sighing to get the depressing feeling to leave, Gray looked around: Natsu wasn't anywhere around – no one was – so it seemed like the dragon slayer was out of the woods now. Gray left the scene, walking toward the entrance, quickening his pace – he didn't want to be late.

Erza, Wendy, and Carla were there when the ice mage arrived. The redhead approached him as he neared, "did you find the monster, Gray?"

"I found its body. It seems that Natsu got to it first: its belly was torn up."

Carla frowned disapprovingly, "destructive as always I see…"

Erza giggled, "Why are you surprised, Carla?"

"I'm not."

"The monster was a Forest Vulcan. We should go back and tell the village chief that his people are no longer in danger."

"Let's wait for Natsu first," Erza ordered.

Gray smirked, "can't we just leave him?"

"Lucy's still in there too," Wendy reminded, hugging Carla to her chest.

"Not to mention that Tomcat…"

The four of them waited patiently for five minutes. Finally, Natsu had walked out of the forest toward them with Happy in tow.

The pyromaniac flashed them his trademark smile as the two approached, "yo!"

"Natsu!" Erza exclaimed, "you're late!"

Cowering behind Happy, Natsu shook in fear, "I'm sorry! I lost track of time! Please don't hurt me, Erza!"

Gray's mouth dropped at the dragon slayer's appearance. That's weird, there was obviously demon blood in the forest, but Natsu looks perfectly fine here…that's odd. Maybe Wendy had run into Natsu and healed him.

Turning to ask the healer his concerns, Wendy shook her head, "I hadn't seen Natsu since we split up, to now."

Gray raised his eyebrow, walking over to his friends.

Erza sighed, "I'll let you off the hook this time, since you defeated that Vulcan. Good job Natsu."

Both Natsu and Happy drew a blank, "huh? What are you talking about?"

Erza raised an eyebrow and that was when Gray was standing next to them. "Natsu," Gray asked, "did you defeat the monster in the forest?"

Natsu shook his head, "no. Happy and I hadn't found a trace of anything, even in the sky."

Erza turned to Gray with a death glare, "explain! Why did you lie?!"

"I didn't lie!" Gray defended, "I told you what I saw."

"What did you see, Gray?" Natsu asked.

Gray, instead of summing it up like he had before, explained what he had seen and why he assumed it was Natsu who had defeated the Vulcan, but the fire mage just shook his head, "it was not me."

They all hummed in thought. This was confusing…

"Guys…" Wendy said, causing the teenagers and exceeds' attention to turn on her, "…Where's Lucy?"

That caught Natsu's attention; everything else about the monster and its mysterious death was no longer a concern to him. "She's not here?"

Wendy shook her head, "she hasn't come out of the forest."

Turning to the large forest, Natsu felt a sickening feeling in his gut rise to his throat. What if there was more than one Vulcan? What if it was an actual demon that killed the Vulcan and now had Lucy? What if there were bandits? All the worse-case scenarios of what could be wrong ran across Natsu's mind. Where was she?

"It's five-thirty," Carla pointed out worriedly, "and it's not like Lucy to be late."

Erza and Gray turned to the forest along with Natsu: there was something wrong.

"Lushee…" Happy mumbled.

…

Natsu took off running.

"Natsu!" Erza called out after him, but she knew that there was nothing stopping Natsu, especially if Lucy was in trouble.

Natsu wasn't very far from the line of tree which led into the forest when he had pulled to a stop: there was someone coming out!

"Lucy?" Natsu called, but she didn't answer.

Worse-case scenario said it was another Vulcan with his favorite girl in his hands. Natsu shivered with fear.

However, it wasn't Lucy; it was a man.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Loke?"

Loke didn't say anything; he simply stared at Natsu with a frown and serious expression, still walking toward him.

That's when Natsu noticed what Loke was holding:

"Lucy!"

In the spirit's arms was an unconscious Lucy covered in bright red blood and dark blood.

Natsu was by the lion's side in a split second, taking the celestial wizard from him, "Wendy!" he called, but the sky dragon slayer was by Natsu's side in an instant, as well as everyone else. Natsu lowered the girl onto the ground, but kept her in his arms as Wendy began to heal her.

He stroked her cheek, horror shown across his face, his heart beating fast. "Luce," Natsu whispered, "Luce, it's me. Open your eyes, Lucy."

"Loke, what happened?!" Erza demanded and Natsu looked up at him, but the spirit continued to stay silent, looking down at Lucy in sadness, pity, and fear.

Just what had happened?

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lucy remembered opening her eyes to a white ceiling, blinding her. She squeezed both her eyes shut immediately, groaning at the light. She knew where she was: the infirmary in Fairy Tail; that was a given.

"Luce?"

She knew that voice anywhere.

"N-Natsu?"

There was a warm, comforting hand against her cheek and she leaned into it before opening her eyes again. She came face-to-face with the man she loves – his gentle black eyes boring into hers, soft, wild pink hair framing his tan handsome face, followed by a white scaly scarf with which he wouldn't be the same without. Lucy smiled gently at him. "Hey…" Then she frowned at the worry in his eyes and she frowned at the achy pain.

"Hey…I'm so glad you're awake. How do you feel?"

"I feel hot…"

Hot?

…

It all came crashing back.

"W-what happened?" Lucy asked, focusing on his thumb stroking her cheek bone – underneath her left eye that had been sealed shut before – and his gorgeous face awfully close hers.

Natsu opened his mouth, but then closed it. He opened it again then, but then shook his head, "I don't know. You were just…unconscious…a-and there was a lot of blood. Luce…" he shook his head again, biting his lips; the blonde could feel his hand tighten around hers – since when was he holding her hand? His soothing voice was now a shaky whisper, "y-you really scared me."

"I'm sorry…I don't remember what happened," she lied, flinching as she did. She hated lying to him so much, "There was just…I-I don't know. I was just…I-I don't remember; e-everything went black-"

"Shhh…" Natsu shushed her, stroking her cheek and spreading that lovely warmth of his, "its okay. Loke already told us everything."

Lucy raised her eyebrows, "Loke?"

"Yeah," Natsu smiled a little for the first time. It didn't reach his eyes, but it was still a smile and Lucy mirrored it, "Loke said he and your other spirits felt the hit when you took damage. He came to check on you and saved you. He brought you back to us."

Lucy blinked. It didn't make any sense to her. Why would Loke come to Earthland and she hadn't been injured. Could he have felt her panic attack?

"Luce…"

Lucy looked up at him; his eyes were red, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

She only smiled, "it's not your fault. I don't blame you. Besides, you can't be with me all the time – I've learned how to defend myself the past year and a half. I was just taken off guard."

He shook his head, his bangs hiding his eyes, "I know…I know how much stronger you've gotten, but Luce…it's still my job to keep you safe. I-I should've gone with you when Erza split us all up."

"Natsu," Lucy placed her hand on his chin, directing his face to look at her again. His eyes were even redder. "You love your guild, you think it's your job to keep _everyone_ safe."

"But Luce, you're not just _anyone_ in this guild. You _are_ my best friend."

Lucy's fingers traveled from his chin to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. The blonde closed her eyes and smiled as their foreheads met. "I'm fine, I promise. You're here with me now and that means more to me than you know. Thank you."

Natsu's eyes widened at her actions, bringing flashbacks to the time where he had set his own forehead against Future-Lucy's, thanking her for trying to save them when she was apologizing for not doing very much.

Natsu blinked back the tears, smiling at her sunny face. That alone was enough to bring back his self-esteem. Lucy was okay – that's all that mattered.

There was a quiet knock on the door then and it slowly opened, revealing Porlyusica with a sullen expression and Loke with that same seriousness behind her. Natsu and Lucy pulled away from each other and greeted them.

"Yo," Natsu smiled.

However, Lucy frowned at their expressions. This could not be good. "Hi Porlyusica. Hi Loke."

"Glad you're awake, Lucy," Loke replied.

"Hi Lucy!" Wendy was in the doorway with a smile; Carla was hovering next to her. "I'm glad to see that you're doing okay. I was just coming to give you another round of healing magic, but I had just remembered that I healed all your wounds an hour ago."

Lucy blinked…she didn't have any wounds to begin with, did she? Anyway, she smiled back, "hey Wendy! Thank you for your help!"

"Oh, it's not a problem, I'm just glad you're feeling better."

"I am."

"Oh, Natsu," Wendy turned her attention to the fellow dragon slayer, "Master wants to speak with you for a minute."

Natsu nodded, smiling at Lucy and then standing up, "I'll be back, Lucy."

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

As Natsu disappeared out of the room with Wendy and Carla in tow, as soon as the door shut, everything was serious.

"So what happened," Lucy asked, turning to the two, "after I passed out? Loke, I don't understand why you're here."

"It's true what Natsu said, that the others and I felt you take tremendous damage," Loke explained. "I came to Earthland to check on you and found you unconscious with the Vulcan dead."

"I don't understand," Lucy said, "I didn't take any damage. How did you and the others feel the hit if there wasn't one?"

Loke sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed, "Lucy…we know what you did to yourself."

Lucy simply blinked before her eyes widened, "w-what? I didn't tell you." The blonde turned on the nurse, who was busy getting ready to take Lucy's temperature. "Why'd you tell him?!"

"She didn't tell me or any of us," Loke said. "We're your celestial spirits Lucy; we're connected…we can feel your suffering, we just know."

Lucy didn't reply, instead, she sat up like she was told to and let Porlyusica stick the thermometer in her ear.

"Tell me," Loke said, "why'd you do this to yourself?"

"You should already know."

"I want to hear you say it."

Lucy looked at the wall, "I wouldn't say I 'did this to myself', I would say I 'saved his life'. You've _known_ why for a long time now. As soon as you made a contract with me, you knew that Natsu was a demon because I had known. I love him, Loke. I'm not going to sit and watch the life drain out of him."

Loke narrowed his eyes, "no life is worth yours."

"…excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Lucy could _not_ believe he had just said that. He would rather have Natsu, his friend, die than his master. She narrowed her eyes, "You don't know how it felt to see the love of your life lying there, _dying_ , Loke, _especially_ if you knew you could do something to save him."

"I do actually."

Lucy raised her eyebrows at first, but then she realized:

" _Aries._ "

Bitterly, Lucy hissed quietly, "and still you say his life isn't worth mine…"

"It isn't. He's not my master, Lucy; I'm not worried about him. Besides, he's Natsu Dragneel. He can get out of any pinch unscathed – you know that-"

"And I'm Lucy Heartfilia – _Etherious_ Lucy Heartfilia. _I_ don't watch the people I care about die when I could do something about it. Even if I wanted to take this out of me now, I can't. Once the seed is moved, it's moved. It's rooted; it knows it's been moved so it's rooted now."

Loke's face was tight and he looked down.

"And I know you don't like it, Loke, but I'm going to eventually die."

"What about your friends? Will you tell them? What will they think when they find out? I respected your wish and covered you up, but by the way things are going, they're bound to find out. What then?"

"They _won't_ find out."

"Let's just say they won't. How will they feel when you die? How will Natsu feel? They'll obviously be heartbroken, but they'll get over it eventually. Natsu? You _know_ him. You know how much he cares for you. You know how much he's lost. You know after Future-Lucy and everything he's been through, he'll be so destroyed. Who knows if he'll _ever_ recover from your death. Do you really want to leave him like that?"

"Of course not," Lucy shot back, "but I don't have a choice, do I?"

"You could at least warn him, prepare him – all of them."

"You know that Natsu would do anything in his power to save me."

"I know."

"He'll be wasting his time and then he'll regret not spending his time with me before I die."

"What if he really _does_ find a way to save you?"

Lucy didn't answer. Instead, she looked away toward Porlyusica's notes, seeing that her temperature was 112.8'F (44.9'C) in both ears. The pink haired nurse had stayed quiet during the whole argument and remained so as she worked.

Lucy turned back to her spirit, "so what did you tell Fairy Tail?"

"Gray discovered and told the others about the demon blood you had thrown up and the monster you killed, but I had gotten to you before they did so he hadn't seen you. I told them that a demon attacked and killed the Vulcan as you were using me to fight it. He did a number on you before I could do anything and threw you into the woods. I was able to fight it off and it ran away. I found you and brought you to the others. That's what they think happened.

"What _really_ happened was another panic attack though…and you ripped open the Vulcan's belly."

Lucy was speechless for a moment, "I-I…I don't know how I did that, I was just-"

"-begging for him to kill you because the pain was too much," Loke finished, "I know."

Lucy didn't reply to that. Instead, Porlyusica spoke for the first time: "You're gaining the strength. That demon seed is now giving you the strength Natsu would've had. You did that with your bare hands, correct?"

Lucy nodded, "yes."

"I'm afraid it's worse: not only has your temperature increased, but your strength as well, and you'll only get stronger."

It didn't surprise her at all. In fact, the celestial wizard was almost happy about that. She could use that to help fight on missions.

Porlyusica gave Lucy the drowsy potion, "Your wounds are 'healed', but I've ordered that you stay in bed for another day. Got that?"

Lucy nodded, drinking the potion down, "yes ma'am. Thank you, Porlyusica."

She simply sighed, "I'm just sorry that what I'm doing is not enough to save you."

The blonde smiled, "its okay."

Sighing again, the old lady made her way to the door, "be more careful next time if you want to keep this a secret."

Before she was able to leave though, Natsu had walked back in. Lucy smiled at his presence, happy he was alive, unlike what he would've been months before…

"Excuse me," Porlyusica said, moving around the pyro and out of the room. She was gone now.

"Oh Natsu," Loke said, standing up, "I need you to keep a watchful eye over Lucy okay? It's time I went back to the spirit realm."

Natsu smiled, "do you even need to ask?"

Loke smirked, "good point."

"Don't worry," he flashed his goofy grin, "she's in good hands, I promise. Come and visit us some time, okay? We'd love to catch up with you."

"Sure, see ya." With that, Loke was gone.

Natsu turned to Lucy, smiling before sitting back down next to her.

"So what did Master want?"

Natsu sighed, "Gramps is sending me on a solo mission. It was a special request asking for me. I don't know how long I'll be gone, hopefully not longer than a week."

"What do they want you to do?" Lucy asked, already feeling the affects of the potion making her drowsy. She lied down.

"I don't know yet…probably something destructive since they're asking for me, by name, specifically," He smiled at her.

Lucy giggled. "When do you leave?"

"In two days; you'll be better by then and I want to stay with you until you're better."

The blonde smiled gently at him, "Natsu?"

Turning to her, Natsu blinked, "yes?"

"Thank you for being here with me."

Smiling back, the dragon slayer scooted closer, taking her hand in his again, "anything for you, Luce."

They talked for nearly an hour before the potion kicked in. The last thing Lucy remembered was Natsu running his fingers through her hair and humming softly.

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 **You're very welcome for the long chapter! I figured I might as well for multiple reasons: one, it's an apology for you guys for waiting so long, and two, I didn't want to make this chapter only the panic attack and another chapter the aftermath. I wanted to cram it all in one and have a point where there wasn't any pain, but happiness and seriousness as well. I think it worked out pretty well. A oneshot is coming next and then "Bloody Child".**

 **-zEllie**


	8. Part 1: the Misery (Chapter 6)

**Ugh! It's been a long time since I've updated anything. I've been having a lot of struggles lately. I'm also comforting a family member going through hard times as well. So I've really just been doing homework and gaming with him for the past month to comfort him. Luckily, one of the games we play a lot, Elder Scrolls Online, gives me inspiration. I've actually started a NaLu story based on one of the quests and in the ESO world. I'm really liking it so far and almost done with the second chapter. However, I don't plan on posting it till later because I have so many stories that aren't finished on here. ^^'**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Where is END? (Ch. 6)

Part 1: The Misery

Natsu was the last person Lucy saw when her eyelids became too heavy; he was also the first person she saw when she found the strength to lift them again. He was asleep now with his head on the white sheets and soft snores filling the quiet room. He was still holding her hand, she noticed with a smile, and despite his opened-mouth snores, his face looked peaceful. You could almost see the wonderful dream he was having on his immobile eyelids; Lucy was glad to see this, it was so unlike her living nightmare that he would've had if she hadn't stepped in.

"Your staring is freaky, Weirdo."

The blonde jumped in her spot, blinking her bright chocolate eyes at the dragon slayer who was smirking at her.

"S-sorry," she nervously giggled, "I was just staring off into space."

"What were you thinking about?" Natsu rubbed at his eyes, yawning and sitting up.

"Oh, nothing important."

He opened his mouth to say something, but Lucy's stomach decided to speak first, causing her eyes to widen in embarrassment.

Natsu laughed at the blush in her cheeks, "If you're hungry, all you had to do was ask. I'll go have Mira bring you up something."

The celestial wizard patted at her warm cheeks to get them to become pale again, "that'd be great. Thanks Natsu."

"Stop slapping yourself," Two large hands settled on her wrists, pulling her small hands away from her face. She pouted at him.

"I'm not slapping myself, Moron. I'm patting my face."

"Oi," Natsu made a face of offence at her calling him a moron. "Stop patting your face then, Weirdo."

"Idiot."

"Blondie."

"Pinkie-pie."

"Spoiled Princess."

"Dragon Breath."

"Always-gotta-be-loud-in-the-morning."

"Eats-like-a-pig."

"Never-lets-Natsu-read-my-novel."

"Never-knocks-and-uses-the-door."

"Always-whining-about-my-rent."

"Likes-to-trash-Lucy's-apartment."

"Likes-to-fight-nude."

That one made the blonde burst into laughter, causing the dragon slayer to let go of her wrists. "Now, _that one_ isn't true!" Lucy defended as she wiped the joyful tears from her eyes. "I never do that on purpose!"

"So you admit the others to being true?" Natsu smirked triumphantly at her.

"No, I'm not. I'm just saying that last one isn't."

"So how can you explain you flying through the sky at me while naked during the Grand Magic Games last year?"

"I told you, a dragon did that to me!"

"You expect me to believe that a dragon picked you up with his large claws, pulled your small clothes off along with letting your hair down out of your pigtails, and then flung you through the air right at me?"

"No! The dragon used a spell to make my clothes disappear!"

"There's a spell that can do that?!" His face twisted up in surprise at her comment, though she swore she'd told him this before.

"I guess so because that's what happened to me and a whole army of men!"

Natsu blinked and was silent for a moment before putting his hand on his chin and looking away thoughtfully, "I need to learn that spell."

The blonde choked on her own spit, "for what?!"

"For entertainment, of course," he blinked at her like it was obvious.

"I'm not going to be your entertaining stripper, Natsu!" She roared.

"I didn't say I was going to use it on you," The pink haired man smirked, "but if you volunteer, I'd oblige."

Her face was hot, "No way!"

"My, my," a pink and blonde head turned to the doorway where Mira stood holding a tray of food with one hand with it's brother against her cheek in amusement. Gray and Levy stood behind her, trying their best not to laugh; they were not succeeding. "You two have quite interesting arguments."

" _They heard the whole thing,_ " Lucy's pink face became a red one, but Natsu only grinned widely. He bore no shame.

"I brought you two some food and some entertainers, but don't worry, they won't strip for you," she winked at them as she set the tray on a table.

"Well, Gray might," Levy stated, walking in the room with the said man. In her arms, she held Lucy's favorite books that the blonde's eyes sparkled at seeing them.

"Hey," the ice mage groaned, "get off my case."

"Whatever do you mean?" the bookworm teased, "You just took off your shir-and there goes your pants too."

"Gah!" Gray exclaimed, looking down to see himself in only his underwear. He quickly looked around for his shirt and already-missing pants.

Lucy, Levy, and Mira laughed at his embarrassment, but Natsu, however, whined like a baby, "Ewwwww! That's not something I want to see! Ah! I think I'm blind now! Luce," he reached out toward her, "where are you? I can't find you."

"I haven't moved," the blonde giggled. "I'm still right in front of you."

"Here Lucy," Mira handed the blonde a plate of her favorite meal, receiving the small gratitude with a smile.

Levy pulled up a chair next to her bed on the opposite side of Natsu while Gray took a chair at the foot of her bed. "I brought your favorite books here along with your novel in case you wanted to write in it some more. I read your updated chapter too, I couldn't resist."

Lucy smiled at her, "that's alright, Levy. Thanks so much."

"No problem, Lu."

Mira slipped out of the room as the four chatted at played around. Gray and Natsu would bicker now and again as Levy chatted endlessly about books and Lucy's novel. The blonde found herself smiling and laughing at her goofy friends. Soon, when Happy joined the fun, everything had gotten much brighter as he cheered Natsu on during short brawls with Gray. It was in moments like these, where Lucy could forget that she was going to die soon. She could forget that she was a demon.

"You know," she suddenly spoke, causing eyes to fall on her. She smiled brightly at all of them, "I really love you guys, so much. I can't imagine my life without you all. You guys make me so happy."

Levy's smile mirrored Lucy's as she launched toward her best friend in a gentle hug. "Aww, Lu! We love you too! There wouldn't be a Fairy Tail without you!"

Lucy hoped and prayed that wasn't true, but the beautiful compliment continued to make her smile.

"Oh, Lucy," Gray rubbed the back of his neck with his face bashful from the praise, "there's no need to be so mushy; you sound like you're gonna die or something."

Her smile slightly dropped, but she didn't let it fall completely.

"Yeah," Natsu added, smirking at her. "You're starting to sound like an old lady. Shall I go get you a cane?"

Letting the hug with Levy fall apart, Lucy scowled and pointed at the pink haired man whom her heart belonged to. "Not _you_ though; I hate _you._ "

Natsu clutched at his heart with his eyes widening and reeling back against the chair away from her. "Ouch! Oh, the pain! Oh, I'm hurt! You cut me deeply, Lushee! I thought we knew each other!"

The fake tears caused Levy and Happy to chuckle, but Lucy just pouted, puffing out her cheek like she would always do, and looked away. "I though we did too until you asked me to be your entertaining stripper…"

"Oi, I never asked you that."

"Huh?" Happy blinked, having not being present during the argument to know about that.

"It's nothing, Happy," Lucy waved him off.

"Seriously though," Natsu continued to cry. "I thought you liked me!"

Lucy blinked, not quite knowing how to respond to that; she could see Levy wiggling her eyebrows at her and she chose to ignore it. She undoubtedly liked him and undoubtedly loved him too, not that she'd ever tell him of course.

Luckily, Gray unintentionally saved her, "Geez, Natsu, quit being a drama queen! It's annoying!"

"What did you say, Frosty?!"

"I said you're being a drama queen, Flame Brain!"

"Grr fight me!" Natsu tackled Gray out of his chair, causing the both of them to hit the floor with a thud before ice and fire flew through the air. Lucy began to laugh as the two went at it again; she truly loved her guild.

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"Natsu~!" Lucy groaned, stating the for millionth time it seemed: "I'll be fine~!"

"Are you sure?" He mumbled back, watching Lucy run around _his_ room, packing _his_ clothes for _his_ trip. The dragon slayer simply sat on his bed moping, groaning, and watching things get put into his pack.

A few moments later, the blonde handed him his packed bag with his brown sleeping-mat. Lucy sighed, crossed her arms, and stared at him as he eyed the bag in his lap.

"Maybe I should just stay home with you…"

"Ugh! Natsuuu~!"

"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, "you can't blame me for being too worried! What if you need me for something while I'm gone?"

"Natsu Dragneel," Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, setting her hands firmly on his shoulders so she knew that all his attention was on her, "I will be fine! I can take care of myself. Besides, the client asked for you, by name, specifically. You're most widely known for destruction. If he's asking for you, then that probably means you're going to be destroying something big that they couldn't do on their own."  
He was still unsure, "…Maybe Happy should stay with you then."

"No, Happy is going with you. You may need him."

" _You_ may need him."

"Oh my gosh! How many times must I say it: I'll be fine! If I don't feel good, I'll visit Wendy and take a nap. I can take care of myself," the celestial wizard rubbed her temples. She must've repeated that over a million times.

"But what if you need me?"

"You know, I have a guild full of loving friends. If I need help, I'll ask one of them."  
"But-"

"Nope! You and Happy are going on this job request, Natsu. I'll still be here when you get back."

He groaned, looking down toward the ground, "fine~."

Seeing his distraught made her black heart heavy. Lucy found herself sighing once more, "look, you're going to be gone for a week. If it makes you feel better, I'll ask Mira for the client's address and I'll send you a letter in the middle of the week to tell you how I'm doing."

At this, his onyx eyes lit up, "really? You'd do that? That'd make me feel so much better!"

"I'll do it as long as you leave right now."

Natsu cocked his head to the side, twisting his gorgeous face up in a teasing smirk, "Luce, are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No, I'm just trying to get you to the train station on time; the train leaves in ten minutes."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?" He grabbed his pack, "Happy, where are you?!"

"He's meeting you at the train station. You'd know that if you weren't flapping your gums about wanting to stay home."

"Crap! I gotta go!" Natsu swung his arms around Lucy in a quick embrace and darted out the door. "See ya in a week, Luce! You better write me that letter or else I'll assume something bad happened to you!" He left the girl there in his home.

Arriving at the guild, Lucy sat on a stool at the bar. She pulled out a pen and paper and sighed, getting a headache from Natsu's antics. Of course, she was flattered that he was worried about her, but he always has been. It just never made her heart beat faster, give her rosy cheeks, and bring a smile to her face; she wouldn't change a thing. She was happy to have both him and Happy as partners.

"What are you smiling about, Lucy?" Mira popped her bubble as she continued to clean plates in front of her. There was no one else at the bar, so of course, she would want someone to talk to.

"Hi Mira," the blonde smiled. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about Natsu's troublemaking personality. He was debating on not taking the job to stay home to watch over me because I had just gotten out of the infirmary this morning. I had to literally force him to go," Lucy sighed then, rubbing her headache away.

"Aww! It's so cute that he cares for you! He really loves you!"

Lucy scoffed and turned away, "no, he doesn't! He would do the same thing if it was his other guildmates. He doesn't love me."

"Oh come on, Lucy. Why won't you just accept it?"

She couldn't just "accept it". Lucy, too, thought that Natsu _probably_ loved her back - maybe just as much as she loved him. It's a thought that she simply hoped wasn't true in the slighted. If he loved her, it would only hurt him more when she passes on. Sometimes, when she'd think about her death and how it'd affect her guild, she would wish that Natsu hated her so he wouldn't cry when she died. Sometimes, she'd lie to herself, saying that he did, in fact, hate her. That's why he'd break into her house and trash the place, invade her privacy and eat all her food. Lucy knew she was just lying to herself though.

Despite this, deep in her heart, she was elated that Natsu probably returns her feelings; she felt selfish for that.

"What do you mean 'accept it'?" Lucy stiff-necked. "He doesn't. I mean, he's _Natsu_. The guy doesn't even know what flirting is and he sends mixed signals all the time." This wasn't a lie even though Lucy internally agreed with Mira.

The barmaid sighed, "that's true, but he doesn't treat you the same as everyone else. He's constantly around you and constantly _wants_ to be around you. He looks at you differently; he talks to you differently."

The celestial mage puffed out her cheek in a pout. "Yeah, whatever. I don't wanna talk about that right now."

Mira sighed again. "Well, alright."

There was a strange silence between them and Lucy knew the white haired model wanted to ask more. To keep her from doing so, she decided to ask her something instead: "Can I have Natsu's client's address?"

The takeover mage raised her eyebrows, "why?"

"Natsu wants me to send him a letter in the middle of the week to let him know that I'm doing okay. He said if I didn't, he'd think something had happened."

Mira said nothing, but nodded, retrieving a binder underneath the counter and flipping to the page marked with Natsu and Happy's name. She showed it to her and the blonde's eyes found the address at the bottom of the flyer. She began to write it down:

"XXXX," she muttered the address to herself as she copied it down on her paper, "SW XXth St. Onibas, Fiore-"

"At least tell me this!" Mira suddenly exclaimed, causing Lucy to jump and squeal in surprise. "You refuse to admit that he loves you, but what about you? Do you love him?"

Lucy blinked once, then twice; finally, the question sank in and she simply looked at the woman who leaned toward her, expecting an answer. "Well?"

The celestial wizard slowly began to feel her cheeks become rosy. She began gnawing at the bottom lip and glanced away from the barmaid - anywhere but her.

"…Oh my gosh. You _do_ , don't you?" She received no answer. "You _do!_ Oh Mavis! Oh gosh! You do! You love him!"

" _Shhhh!_ " Lucy snapped. "Why are you so loud?!"

"How long, Lucy?!" Mira's eyes were wide with excitement and begging for details. "When did you realize it? Why _exactly_ do you love him? When do you plan on confessing? Do you need help? Oh, I got you, Girl! I know this perfect-"

"Mira~!" Lucy whined. "My brain-box already hurts from Natsu's earlier shenanigans today. Don't make it worse."

Mira pulled up a stool from the corner then, putting down the plate and wet rag, and giving the blonde her undivided attention. Lucy looked around her to see if anyone was listening before turning back and sighing. " _Please_ don't tell Natsu…or anyone. I want to be the one mentioning it to him. I don't want you to 'accidentally' slip a word of two to him about this conversation and then he'll assume something. Everyone would do the same thing. What is spoken here, stays here."

Mira hesitated, wanting to shout to the world already, but agreed. "Okay, I understand."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Lucy."

The blonde sighed then, looking around one more time before lowering her voice, "I think I started to like him the first time you mentioned that you thought he liked me way back when."

Mira raised her eyebrows, "I don't quite remember…"

"I think it was after the Battle of Fairy Tail," Lucy explained, "you mentioned something about it to me. I had gotten all nervous around him suddenly and he asked me to meet him late at night under the Sola Tree in Southgate Park. It turned out, he wanted me to summon Virgo to dig up a chest."

"Oh! I remember you telling me about that! That was a long time ago."

"Yeah, it was," Lucy smiled at the memory. "What I didn't tell you that day was that I got all dressed up for it and that I daydreamed about our date because that's what I thought it was."

"No way! Really?!"

"Shh!" Lucy shushed again, "yes. I'm not quite sure when I realized that I loved him though. I just woke up one day…and I did."

Mira smiled brightly and repeated her previous question, "why do you love him? I mean, we can both agree that he's really…well, Natsu." That made Lucy giggle. "But he undoubtedly has good qualities. What is it?"

Lucy looked away with a smile. "Honestly, it's the 'Natsu' part of him that I adore."

Mira made a face, "really?"

"Well, no," she nervously chuckled. "Well…yes. Haha, I love everything about him. I love the good qualities along with the bad. I love his smile, his good looks; I love that he saves me, I love the way that he'd somehow defeat his enemy at the last moment when the odds are against him and that he'd come out of the deadliest explosions with barely even a scratch. I love everything, but the main reason I'm in love with him is just…him. Just Natsu.

"I adore the weirdness. I love the way he embraces himself despite everyone making fun of him and teasing him. He doesn't care; he's unlike anybody else. We all are weird in our own right, but nobody shows it. We always hide it in our rooms with the door shut so no one would catch us and laugh, but not Natsu. He takes his weirdness and proudly wears it like a badge in public and ignores the laughs; it never brings him down, and even, sometimes, eggs him on. After all we've been through, it's never changed."

The celestial wizard came down from heaven where she spoke from her heart and looked at Mira. The woman's eyes were glazed over with unshed tears and her gentle smile showed the blonde that her words touched her. "That's…so sweet, Lucy."

Lucy didn't respond to that, but simply smiled.

"When do you plan on confessing?"

"I don't."

She seemed taken aback by this,, "what? Why?"

Lucy sputtered a lie, "I-I just…don't really want to right now…"

"Why not?"

"I…I-I like the way things are between us right now. I'm satisfied with it and don't want it to change now. Maybe later, but not now."

Mira hummed, "I guess I can understand that." She looked up then, seeing Cana waving her over for another round of alcohol. "Well, I better get back to work. I'll respect your wish not to tell anyone."

"You better not," Lucy giggled, though she was serious, the takeover wizard knew that.

"When you two walk in here hand-in-hand, I can't promise anything then. If you need help with anything concerning him, just let me know."

"Thanks Mira, I will." Lucy smiled, having finished copying the address down and stood up. She made her way home.

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Lucy took a deep breath, putting pen to paper:

"Dear Natsu,

"I'm writing this letter the day after you left for the mission which means you'll get it tomorrow. It's not exactly the middle of the week, but close enough. I'm doing just fine and even up for going on a mission. The girls asked me to go and I'll be leaving tomorrow which is why I decided to write you now. Erza, Cana, Juvia, and Levy asked me to go with them. I'll only be gone for a couple of days and I'll be back before you're done with your own mission. Don't be a worry-wart, just focus on your job and come back home safely, okay? I miss you and Happy.

"Love, Lucy."

Sighing and proofreading for errors, Lucy pulled out an envelope to write down the address when suddenly, a snapping sound rang throughout the quiet room like a gunshot. The blonde jumped in her spot at the noise and glanced around. No one was in her room - it was quite odd. Looking back toward her paper, she realized what had snapped: her pen.

The pen was completely shattered within her grasp; it didn't snap in half. It was unusable. Lucy vaguely wondered what had happened before she realized: it was her.

Taking another pen, Lucy tested her theory and squeezed; the second pen shattered almost instantly, joining the first one. The celestial wizard stared at the small dislodged pieces before scooping them up into her hands and throwing them away. She sat on her bed then, taking it in and running her fingers through her hair.

She was stronger; she completely shattered two pens with ease. Lucy had not been exercising (besides, how could you work out your hands?) so there was no way she could do that on her own. It was the demon seed - END. It had to be; it's the only logical explanation for the sudden strength. END was giving her strength that Natsu would've had.

Lucy gritted her teeth then, "Stupid! Stupid END! I hate you!"

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 **I'm done! I had fun writing this! I don't quite know what story I'll update next; I'm a complete mess right now…literally, you should see my room and the clothes everywhere ^^'…anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


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